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Andy Matsko/staff photos
Kyle Morgan, Schuylkill Haven, a diver with the Schuylkill Haven Dive Rescue and Recovery Team, shows some of the team's equipment Wednesday, including a Marine Sonic Side Scan Sonar that is used to find drowning victims underwater.

Andy Matsko/staff photo
Diver Chad Hasenauer, Schuylkill Haven, left, and Carter Hoffman, captain of the Schuylkill Haven Dive Rescue and Recovery Team, show off a dry suit used for diving in cold waters.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Over the years, the Schuylkill Haven Dive Rescue and Recovery Team has grown from four divers to about 30 members.

Carter Hoffman, captain of the dive team since 2000, said Wednesday that the team originated at Rainbow Hose Company No. 1, Schuylkill Haven, then as the team grew, Schuylkill Hose Company No. 2 eventually took it over.

Hoffman has been diving for 18 years and was one of the original divers along with instructor Mike Margavage, Schuylkill Haven, who has been diving since 1989 and was part of the team at Rainbow Hose.

The team has since grown to 18 to 20 divers with 12 certified ice divers and 12 to 15 support personnel and boat operators.

"On any given day, we'll roll on a recovery with four divers and on a rescue with two drivers, depending on how the dispatch comes in," Hoffman said.

Hoffman said that in their 2001 Freightliner truck, they carry eight sets of gear, while six or seven members have their own personal equipment.

The team performs water rescues, ice rescues, vehicle recovery, body recovery and pubic service details, such as triathlons. The team has also done four polar plunges this year.

The team can do about six or seven rescues a year, but that always changes. From 2005 to 2006, Hoffman said they had a year to year-and-a-half period with no calls.

"We pretty much go anywhere in the state," Hoffman said. "We've been in Harrisburg, up to Klingerstown, up to Washingtonville in Montour County, Lebanon County, and Berks County pretty frequently. We haven't really done a lot as far as drownings in Schuylkill County."

One place Hoffman said the team frequents is "The Rock" near Port Clinton, where swimmers often jump off a high rock during the summer. If there are any accidents there, Union Fire Company No. 1, Hamburg, calls the dive team immediately.

He said that Hamburg has a few drivers but it's not as established as the Schuylkill Haven team.

"Everything on the inside of this rig is what a diver needs to put on to get in the water with the exception of said fins," Hoffman said.

The team has 12- and 14-foot inflatable boats that can carry an operator and three or four divers, respectively, while they have a 16.5-foot aluminum boat that's strictly for the sonar.

Among the team's newest equipment is the underwater digital camera that allows them to take photos and video, the sonar that allows them to locate a body easily and can cover the length of a football field in a matter of minutes, and the dry suits and face masks with underwater communications that will allow a diver to stay under the water for about 40 minutes, compared to only about 20 minutes with a wet suit.

"In any recovery effort that we're on, as many of the guys that I can keep in dry suits and full face masks for their own personal protection, the better they are, especially if we're going after a vehicle that's submerged and there's gasoline and oils," Hoffman said. "In floodwaters, we try to keep everybody as closed up as we can in the dry suits because there could be sewage in the waters."

The dive team is the second team in the state to have a sonar, behind the Whitehall Fire Department dive team. The equipment costs about $32,000.

In order to become a member of the dive team, Hoffman said there are five required trainings that include open water rescue, advanced open water, stress rescue, search patterns and swift water rescue.

"You have to be able to swim to be a diver," Margavage said.

While there are members who joined just to be part of the dive team, a member is required to join one of the three fire companies in the borough and are then covered under the Fireman's Relief Fund.

The member has four years from the time they join the team to complete the five trainings, otherwise, they must reimburse the relief fund for the trainings they did complete.

Once the required trainings are completed, there are other trainings a diver can choose to complete, such as for using a dry suit and being a night, ice or deep water diver.

"It's not like 'Baywatch,' where you jump off the boat and in 60 feet is the gorgeous blonde in the bikini laying, there you give her two breaths in the mouth and she's back to life and you're dating her," Hoffman said. "It's not quite how it works."

The team does all its training in-house and has two instructors, but it is hoping to soon have three.

There are also 11 trainings a year, usually on the third Sunday of each month, to keep the team "fresh and familiar," especially in places like "The Rock" where there is a moving river that can change from week to week.

For underwater photos and videos and more information about the Schuylkill Haven Dive Rescue and Recovery Team, visit www.schuylkillhose.com and click "Dive Team."

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